Pablo Rivera works the floor of Spirit Halloween on Newtown Road in Danbury on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012. Rivera works two part-time jobs with the other one being Town Fair Tire, located next-door to the Halloween store.
Photo: Jason Rearick

Spirit Halloween on Newtown Road in Danbury is hiring for the Halloween season. They mostly hire seasonal workers because they close their store shortly after Halloween. Photographed on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012.
Photo: Jason Rearick

More Information

Challenges of temp positions
No guarantees the position can become permanent.
Most do not offer sick or vacation days. If you miss a day, you won't get paid.
In many contracted positions, you have guaranteed to work for a certain amount of time. This can delay a job search.
Rarely provides health benefits.
Salary tends to be non-negotiable.
Can take time away from family time.
If juggling the position with other jobs, tiredness and burn-out can occur, which can affect performance at all positions.
Source: Mary Ann Gontin, OI Partners-Cunis & Gontin; April Squillante, president of WestConn chapter of SHRM.

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If you happen to walk over to a tall glass case in the Spirit Halloween store on Newtown Road in Danbury, you'll see a scary, life-sized animatronic figure all dressed up for Halloween.

Well, most of the time, that is. Occasionally, the figure might really be Brookfield resident Andrew Giannettino.

"Last year, once the floor model was sold, I dressed up as Freddy Krueger and posed inside the case. When kids came over and pressed a button, I started to move. Then, I jumped out at them, and they chased me around the store saying, `You're not real. You're not real'," said Giannettino, 24, who works as an assistant manager at the store.

Giannettino is working at Spirit Halloween through November, when the store will close for the season. After that, he has secured a job for the Christmas season at Hickory Farms at the Danbury Fair mall. Following that job, he'll work as a delivery man for several months before opening a Dunkin' Donuts in Newtown.

"Working (at Halloween Spirit) is a great way for me to make some money while having fun at the same time," said Giannettino, who is a full-time student at Western Connecticut State University. "Halloween is my favorite time of year. This is a great place to work. A lot of my friends work here."

Despite a tough job market, such short-term positions as contract, freelance, and temporary work are one of the few areas that are consistently doing well, according to Mary Ann Gontin, managing partner of OI Partners-Cunis & Gontin, a global coaching and leadership development and consulting firm in Danbury.

Aside from bringing in extra cash, these types of jobs "can provide great benefits, such as gaining new skills and developing existing ones. All of this builds your confidence, which you will bring with you toward your future job interviews and jobs," said Gontin, of Bethel.

Tim Moran, manager at Spirit Halloween, is gaining sales experience at the store. "This is the best job I've worked at in a long time," he said. "It's fun to help customers put together a decoration or costume that best suits their needs."

Moran explained how a customer recently came in and said he runs a haunted restaurant in New York. "He was looking to buy an animatronic to welcome people into the restaurant. I suggested the `Harvester,' which is a scarecrow. It greets guests by saying `Welcome traveler'. The customer bought it right on the spot," said Moran, 30, of Bridgeport.

While looking for permanent employment, Danbury resident Debbie Perry said she's keeping her job skills fresh by working short-term assignments in her field. Due to a workforce reduction last year, she was laid off from her job as a senior human resource business partner at IBM, where she'd worked for over 20 years. Since then, she took a three-month contract position, where she was exposed to technology she hadn't used before.

"One of the things I learned was a new applicant tracking system. I feel that knowing this system, as well as others, can transition well into a new position," Perry said.

According to Gontin, short-term assignments can also give people exposure to a company, field, or position, to see if it's the right fit for them. New Milford resident Samantha O'Connor, 28, did this recently when she became a receptionist in a temp-to-perm receptionist job at an accounting firm.

"I was unhappy working in a sales position, so I left it and went to Marie Nugent Personal Services, who placed me at this firm," she said. "I'm really excited because, even though I'm a receptionist here right now, I'm learning a lot about the accounting field. I've been processing tax returns and checking balancing sheets.

"Taking on this job on a temporary basis has helped me make up my mind that this is the field I want to work in and the company I want to work for. I was told if I do a good job, I will eventually be moved into an accounting capacity here, once I complete my bachelor's degree in accounting."

Gontin said employers prefer candidates work at any job over not having one at all. "While not being employed for a few months is understandable, you don't want six months to a year where you have done nothing. Working 10 hours a week, or volunteering in some capacity, is better than trying to explain a huge gap in employment, she said.

"You should never look at any job as a waste of time or something that's below you. You can learn something at any job and make valuable connections, but it's all up to you. A positive attitude goes a long way."

Apply early

The best time to apply for work at a seasonal store is long before it opens for business. "Then, it's probably too late. By the time they're open they have already filled their jobs. You should begin looking several months in advance," Gontin said, adding if it's a large company, the best way to look is on its website.

Moran said, "We review all applications we receive through our website, work4spirit.com. We hire people based upon what our needs are, if they're a good fit for the position, and their availability. I've received between 100 and 200 applications overall this season." Applicants also apply to the store through Monster.com.

Given all the competition, "you should do anything you can to stand out and secure the position you want," Gontin added.

A success story

During the holiday season in 2010, Danbury resident Gail Hill Williams had her aggressive job search strategy all planned out.

"After my husband lost his job, I needed to bring in extra money. I was struggling to bring my small business -- Alegre' Communications Inc. -- off the ground. So, I updated my resume to reflect all the sales positions I've had. Then, I made 25 copies and walked up and down the mall for seven hours, giving them out and filling out applications," said Williams, 47.

By the end of that day, her approach proved successful -- she got a temporary position in the intimates department at Lord & Taylor. It lasted from Thanksgiving through January.

"They told me if I did a good job, they would see if they could find a permanent job for me," said Williams, a mother of two young children who also teaches part-time at a community college.

After working in several departments, in February of 2011 she got a permanent position nights and weekends as a make-up artist at the Bobbi Brown cosmetics counter.

"I love this job because I like to see women happy when they see how good they look with the make-up," she said. "It's a juggling act to work at this job, plus my business, but I make it work."

Sandra Diamond Fox is a freelance writer in Connecticut; Sandraifox@aol.com.